Weekly Update 7.3.14

There were homework assignments to ready us for your onslaught on every platform. I love take home playtests. Destiny is available at my desk every day. I watch urk and OJ play from the corner of my eye while I patrol our social graph for wisdom or evil. For some reason, my favorite place to play Destiny is on my own couch. The experience just feels more real there, in that place where I’ve waged countless battles with old friends.

I have seen the words “Beta Build” on the television in my game room. It’s a promise and a warning. Very soon, untold thousands of Guardians will see the very same thing – both old friends and new. That is what’s been missing from our game. Our techs call this phenomenon “concurrency.” I call it a united community. Four separate theaters of war, one common goal.

Soon. At this point, it becomes more accurate to measure the countdown in days than weeks.

Around the World

Remember last week when I was risking my life on a dangerous mission to make you some new friends? Do you also remember how urk let slip some sweet details that he had been censoring for weeks with his own iron fist of censorship?

Well, two can play at that game. Enjoy the graphical arms race while it escalates right before your eyes. Be sure to thank Technical Artist Nate Hawbaker (callsign: Veegie) for his mastery of our world-building tools. These sweeping vistas that are ripe for exploration make my frequent flier high score seem minuscule by comparison. Check out some of the destinations you’ll explore in the final form of Destiny.

The Tower, overlooking the last safe city on Earth.

The Cosmodrome, made strange by the passage of time.

The Hellmouth Citadel, many chambers below the surface of the Moon.

The Shattered Coast of Venus, claimed by nature (and Vex).

Beyond the Buried City, across the crimson dunes of Mars.

Perhaps the lesson here is that, when two entities compete for your attention, everyone wins. Competition is good. It inspires us all to achieve greater things.

Enjoy the view.

That Chicken Has Bite

Before Bungie Day, we have another party to attend. Before the Destiny Beta, there is another battle to wage. Our sites are set on the Rooster Teeth Expo.

Once more unto the breach of the Crucible. Twelve white-listed boxes will take center stage. Willing combatants will be plucked from the crowd to battle for glory, bragging rights, and charity. We’ll be granting wishes and raising money to see to it that more such wishes can come true.

We will battle luminaries from the community, random warriors from the crowd, and perhaps Burnie himself. Some of them will be in our posse. We will lock eyes with the rest of them over the top of our monitors.

The game is afoot, RTX. No matter who wins, the real victors will be the Make-A-Wish Foundation. How much we donate will depend on how brave your audience will be in the heat of battle.

Previously in the Bungie Weekly Update, urk tapped the universal mind to conjure questions to drive conversation. This is a fancy way of admitting that he channeled the community voice that rings out across the Internet. This week, we went straight to the usual source. Let’s open the Sack.

tlspartan: How did the Alpha go in your eyes?

It was a great start – a small sample of the population we will need to prove that we’re ready for launch. Finally, the game got to speak for itself. It does the best job of telling its story and proving its concepts. What we need now are players from all four platforms to get in there and kick some ass.

FGX: Did everything go well in le France?

Everything was “bon.” Thanks for asking. We chatted with French journalists. We dodged marauding Algerians who took to the Paris streets to celebrate their World Cup win (twice). And, we made an appearance in Cannes for IDEF. While there, we resurrected the Destiny Alpha on three lonely, white-listed boxes for some live demos. I wanted to share that little detail with you, but I know that #destinywithdrawal is a very real thing. The last thing I wanted was a rush of eager players trying to visit their Guardians, only to be confronted by the cold, dark assurance that your Alpha adventure had come to an end. Don’t lose heart. The next adventure beckons.

xfuzzlex: Will Bungie be at GamesCom 2014?

Yes! Beer and pretzels for everyone! And Destiny, too. Can’t wait. Last year, gamescom was awesome. I’m already trying to put my French fireteam back together to mentor some fresh new Guardians in the arts of space magic. If you are close enough to Cologne to infiltrate that sprawling compound of overpopulated madness, you should come and check us out.

Smork12: Will we be able to trade/sell our gear Guardian to Guardian?

You can vault them for use by other Guardians that you control, but you can’t give them away to other players. I talked to Angry Joe about this a little bit at E3 (skip to 8:40). Basically, if you want that exotic sniper rifle, you gotta earn it. The rewards in Destiny are tied to specific beats of action. We want you to have a personal war story that you can trace back to every single piece of gear in your inventory. The weapons in Destiny are like trophies.

toby1kanobi: Will enemies have weaknesses to certain elemental types of damage?

You want to know what’s better than me answering this question? Letting a member of your community answer this question (9:35).

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRKC2U4QFHA#t=595′]

F12: Will we be able to name our characters in Destiny?

You are your character in Destiny. In your case, your Guardian will be named F12. If you want your name to be more colorful or personal (i.e. NinjaSniper420, Titan Nick, Robert Paulson) you need to change your identity at the source. Our hope is that you have an identity in the game that’s meaningful to you, and that new friends can track you from your favorite Destiny forum to a rendezvous in orbit over your favorite destination.

Viva la Pwn: Will the beta be under NDA or not?

On July 17th, the Beta will be an open stage for your theatrics. I’ll be happy to say this as many times as it needs to be said. You should have seen me chasing down leaks during the Pre-Alpha, or even the Alpha prior to E3. The Beta is our time to unite as a community and see who can make the most noise. We want to see who can stream, share, upload, and kick some ass. Become legend, people. Do it live and in front of an adoring public. Tell your friends. Pass it on.

TMAC burninator: Will there be a way to submit bug reports in the beta?

Yes! Please let us know what you think. There will be a dedicated forum where that should happen. I’d throw you a link, but you’re already there.

Guardian of DCF: Will current Groups have the option to become a Clan?

You’re onto us. You want a clan under a very specific banner? Reserve your Bungie.net group name now. No squatting. I reserve the right to have Achronos change your name to something unsightly if you try to pose as an outfit that you don’t own.

Kylesteien: Will you be able to answer every question we have asked thus far about Destiny on Bungie Day? Aside from the spoiler ones of course.

At this point, every question about Destiny is a spoiler. If you want to play, every other question we answer subtracts from the experience that lies in waiting for you. If you don’t want to play… Well, at this point, there’s not much else we can tell you. The game has been out there for all to see. All that’s missing are some essential hands on some essential controllers.

Don’t get me wrong. I understand impatience. I’m the least patient person that anyone who knows me knows. I want us all to be playing Destiny, too, and I’ve been waiting for longer than you have for that day to come.

Hang in there. You’re so close to discovering these things for yourself. You’ve earned that right. The next time we have this conversation, we’ll be asking you if you have your actual Beta code.